


You're always on my mind

by Werederg



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: And Insomnia, Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Hope and Josie are just starting to be friends, Sharing a Bed, Wolf Instincts, hope has anxiety, they are awkward beans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:33:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23955388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Werederg/pseuds/Werederg
Summary: Hope only frowns and steps forward to catch Josie’s wrist. “Josie, stop. What’s going on?” Hope says, easily leading Josie back toward her room.Josie bites down on her lip and her eyes fall to the floor. “I, uh, I just got into a fight with Lizzie and I don’t really want to be in our room right now. I guess I was wondering if I… If I could stay in your room tonight...” Josie says, her voice becoming quieter and less confident as she speaks before trailing off into something inaudible.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 81
Kudos: 762





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy!  
> I totally meant for this to be a one shot, but apparently I'm incapable of that, so here we go again.  
> This was heavily inspired by a fic by dandelionlighters called "the more things change (the more they stay the same)". Their portayal of Hope with more blatant werewolf qualities honestly just spoke directly to the little 10 year old version of me that was just completely obsessed with wolves and werewolves in fifth grade. So much thanks for the inspiration, check that fic out if you're interested!  
> Enjoy!

It’s about ten o’clock at night when a knock sounds on Hope’s door. Now, Hope, being relatively well nestled in her blankets, dressed in only a tank top and shorts, with a pretty good book in her hands, hesitates at the idea of getting up, even though she knows that no one in the entire school would come knock on her door unless it was important. It only takes a second for her anxiety to convince her to set down her book and unwrap herself from her blankets to answer the door.

What Hope expects to find on the other side of the door is a crisis, something dangerous or life-threatening that only she can deal with, probably delivered by a trying-too-hard-not-to-look-panicked Dr. Saltzman. Instead, Hope finds a quite nervous and vaguely upset looking Josie Saltzman. Seeing as Hope and Josie have only just starting becoming friends after years of vague hostility, Hope really doesn’t know how to respond.

“Josie?” Hope manages, her brow furrowing in confusion and concern.

“Hey, Hope,” Josie says, her voice quiet and uncertain. She gives Hope a nervous smile.

“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” Hope asks immediately, seeing no other reason anyone would come to see her, much less in the middle of the night.

Josie sniffles and lets out a nervous laugh, shuffling in place awkwardly. After a moment, she shakes her head, seemingly at herself. “You know what? Nevermind, it’s stupid. I’m really sorry to bother you, Hope,” Josie says, turning to leave.

Hope only frowns and steps forward to catch Josie’s wrist. “Josie, stop. What’s going on?” Hope says, easily leading Josie back toward her room.

Josie bites down on her lip and her eyes fall to the floor. “I, uh, I just got into a fight with Lizzie and I don’t really want to be in our room right now. I guess I was wondering if I… If I could stay in your room tonight...” Josie says, her voice becoming quieter and less confident as she speaks before trailing off into something inaudible.

Hope definitely doesn’t expect this, but it causes a warm feeling to rise in her chest at the idea that she is someone Josie trusts enough to come to for help for something other than monsters. She stumbles a bit in her response as she tries to process this development in their relationship and the idea of having someone in her room.

“Yeah, of course, Josie,” Hope pauses, almost hesitantly, before stepping back out of the doorway. “Come on in.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to put you out or make you uncomfortable,” Josie rambles nervously, not crossing the threshold.

“Really, it’s fine, Josie. Honestly, it makes me happy that you even thought to come to me. I didn’t think we were there yet, but I’m glad we are,” Hope says, her eyes suddenly very interested in the wood paneling of her wall.

Josie relaxes a little and smiles as she steps into the room. “Oh, okay, thanks, Hope.”

“What are friends for?” Hope says awkwardly as she shuts the door behind Josie.

There is an uncomfortably long beat before Josie speaks again.

“I can just take the floor or something, if you have an extra pillow or something.”

Hope laughs a little at that. “It’s a big enough bed that we can share, Josie. I’m not going to let you sleep on the floor.”

“Are you sure?” Josie says, her voice growing less insistent as tiredness seems to creep up on her.

“It really doesn’t bother me, Josie, I promise,” Hope insists, and it’s not technically a lie. It’s been so long since Hope has shared a bed with someone, she’s not really sure how she feels about it. Her stomach does twist a little at the idea, but it usually does that around Josie.

Josie finally seems convinced as Hope sits down on her own bed and starts to climb back under the covers. After a moment, Josie awkwardly climbs in on the other side, making sure to leave as much space as possible for Hope.

“You don’t have to sleep on the edge of the bed, Josie. I tend to sleep kind of curled up anyways, so there is definitely enough space,” Hope murmurs after a moment.

“Oh, okay,” Josie mumbles back, feeling an embarrassed blush rise on her face. She hesitantly scoots a little closer to the middle of the bed, watching Hope get comfortable to make sure that she’s not in the other girl’s way. 

Josie smiles a little when Hope finally settles in with her back to Josie. Hope really does sleep curled up, sort of like a dog does, with her arms and legs half folded under her. Josie then settles in herself, laying with her back to Hope. She lets out a soft sigh as her head sinks into the pillow and her exhaustion over takes her.

Unfortunately, just as soon as Josie starts to drift off to sleep, her mind is jolted back awake by the sound of shifting next to her. Josie sighs a little, thinking Hope is just getting comfortable, and attempts to fall asleep again. Within the next five minutes, Josie experiences a maddening cycle of starting to fall asleep, only to be woken up by Hope’s rustling and quiet noises. After a long moment, Josie’s tried frustration overcomes her anxiety and she sits up and turns to Hope.

“Hope?” Josie says softly, tapping lightly on Hope’s shoulder.

Hope’s eyes snap open and her body tenses in response to being woken up. It takes a moment for her eyes to find Josie, understanding following soon after.

“Yeah, Josie, what’s up?” Hope asks, her voice heavy with sleep.

“Are you okay? You’re shifting around a lot. I don’t know if that’s normal or if it’s because I’m here, but…” Josie says uncertainly.

Hope’s eyes widen a little and she moves to sit up. “Um, yeah, I’m usually a kind of restless sleeper, but I think this is a little different,” Hope says, staring at her hands as they bunch up the blanket in her lap.

Josie’s brow furrows. “Hope, if I’m making you uncomfortable, I can just go back to my room. I don’t want to make you lose sleep.”

“No, it’s not that, you’re not making me uncomfortable, Josie. It’s just…” Hope trails off, unsure how to explain what she’s experiencing.

“It’s just what?” Josie prompts, gently encouraging Hope to continue.

Hope crosses her arms over her chest and takes a deep breath in preparation. “I think it’s a wolf instinct thing. My wolf is a lot like my dad’s, in that I have a lot of the really protective instincts that he had.”

“Okay?” Josie says, still confused.

Hope sighs to try release some of the tension building up in her chest, her hands balling up the blankets a little more forcefully. “And, you know how, when wolf packs sleep together, they kind of all sleep in one big pile.”

Josie nods.

“Well, because my wolf is so protective, I think it’s getting kind of antsy because there is someone in my bed and I’m not… protecting them,” Hope finishes, extremely aware of how red her face must be.

Josie frowns as her tired mind tries to process the information. “So you can’t sleep because your wolf wants to cuddle?”

Hope lets out a sharp, anxious laugh, still refusing to meet Josie’s eyes. “I suppose that’s one way to put it.”

Josie can’t help but smile at Hope’s embarrassment. It’s kind of cute, really.

“Well, I don’t want you to get no sleep because of me, and I really wouldn’t mind, if you’re okay with it,” Josie says, feeling her face heat up as she tries desperately to forget that she is offering to cuddle with someone she used to have a crush on.

It takes Hope a long moment to process Josie’s words, and once she does, she feels a bolt of panic run through her. “Oh! You don’t have to do that, Josie. I don’t want to cross any lines or do anything you’re not okay with,” Hope says quickly.

Josie lets out a sigh, suddenly too tired to really care about how embarrassing this all is. “It’s fine, Hope, really. Let’s just get some sleep before the sun comes up, please,” Josie says, lying back down on her side, her back to Hope.

Despite Josie’s tired apathy, her heart rate picks up when she feels Hope’s weight shift next to her. Hope hesitantly drapes an arm around Josie’s waist, her touch feather light. Josie rolls her eyes, ignoring the way her heart skips at the action. Hope stays there, hovering in a sort of half laying position with her arm barely touching Josie, for a long moment. She stays there for so long, in fact, that when she finally moves again, it almost startles Josie.

Eventually, once Hope is seemingly satisfied that she hasn’t offended Josie in anyway, she lays down fully, their bodys still not touching. Josie listens to Hope breath quietly for a bit and then, Hope’s arm tightens around her waist, pulling Josie impossibly close to her body. Hope’s body is sudden, warm, and solid and it makes Josie feel much too hot, in a way she doesn’t quite mind. It takes a moment for her to really come to terms with the feeling of having Hope’s front pressed against her back, but by the time she has, Hope’s face is burrowing into the crook of her neck, causing a new wave of heat to pass through her.

Within seconds, Hope’s body relaxes fully and her hot breath becomes soft and even against Josie’s neck. Josie on the other hand is struggling to process the dozen or so sensations that probably would have given 13 year old her a literal heart attack. Even still, Josie finds it surprisingly easy to relax in Hope’s arms and soon she finds herself falling asleep in the comforting safety of Hope’s embrace.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You good?” Josie asks, groggily, her face still half buried in her pillow.
> 
> “Yeah,” Hope says hesitantly, eyes staring blankly at the ceiling, “it’s just been so long since I’ve shared a bed with anyone, I kind of forgot and got scared when I woke up.”
> 
> Josie can’t help but burst out laughing at that. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t laugh,” Josie says, still laughing.
> 
> “No, that’s okay, it’s pretty funny,” Hope admits reluctantly, a smile creeping onto her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, yes, the first morning after, although, definitely not the last ;)
> 
> Thanks so much for all the kudos and comments! You're all so lovely and I love hearing from you! 
> 
> Enjoy!

When Hope’s alarm rings the next morning, the thing that actually wakes Josie up is having the warmth enveloping her suddenly ripped away as Hope’s body launches away from her with startling speed. Josie groans at the loss and the idea of waking up. She doesn’t even open her eyes for a long time, content to listen to the scuffling next to her that seems to indicate that Hope is having a hard time shutting off her alarm. When the beeping stops and the body next to her goes still but doesn’t return to her side, Josie reluctantly opens her eyes.

Josie turns over to find Hope laying flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling with eyes open too wide for so early in the morning. Josie can hear Hope’s labored breathing and she vaguely wonders how much of a fight the alarm clock put up. Josie watches Hope for a while, feeling herself start to fall back asleep when Hope doesn’t move a muscle for at least a minute. 

“You good?” Josie asks, groggily, her face still half buried in her pillow.

“Yeah,” Hope says hesitantly, eyes staring blankly at the ceiling, “it’s just been so long since I’ve shared a bed with anyone, I kind of forgot and got scared when I woke up.”

Josie can’t help but burst out laughing at that. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t laugh,” Josie says, still laughing.

“No, that’s okay, it’s pretty funny,” Hope admits reluctantly, a smile creeping onto her face.

Once Josie manages to stop laughing, she reluctantly drags herself into a sitting position. “What time is it?” Josie asks, rubbing her eyes.

“6:30,” Hope answers, still staring at the ceiling.

“Well, I should probably head back to my room so I have time to get ready,” Josie says, getting to her feet and heading to the door. The moment feels weird and anti climatic, and Josie feels like she should say something more, so when she reaches the door she turns around and tries to meet Hope’s eyes, but the other girl’s gaze stays locked on the ceiling. Finally Josie murmurs, “Thanks for this, Hope,” before heading out, Hope still hardly giving any sign of noticing that she is gone.

Hope and Josie continue their day like normal, getting ready for class and heading down for breakfast. When they see each other there, they share awkward smiles and sit across from each other, discussing a class project coming up with the rest of their friends. When they see each other in class later, they share the same awkward smiles, occasionally glance at each other during class, and part ways with only a few words. It’s all very normal. Nothing seems to indicate that anything different had happened the previous night. As far as anyone can tell, Josie slept in her own room last night and nothing has changed between them. The appearance of normalcy, however, begins to crumble as soon as Hope goes to bed that night, or rather tries to go to bed. 

As soon as the sun begins to set that day, Hope suddenly feels anxious and tense, but that doesn’t immediately tell her something is wrong. Hope’s anxiety tends to get worse at night and it’s not uncommon for her to have bad days where it gets worse for seemingly no reason. So she takes a few deep breaths and pushes through, hoping that she will still be able to sleep in spite of the tightness in her chest. But the tension only gets worse as it gets later in the evening, and Hope begins to realize that something is wrong.

What tips Hope off that something is different is that her anxiety usually contains multitudes. She gets anxious about hurting the people she loves, about failing to help or save them, about being rejected or abandoned by them, and her brain usually cycles through those fears in a number of different situations with a number of people, just to keep her on her toes. But that’s not what’s going through her head right now. Right now, the only thing she can worry about, the only thing she can even think about, is Josie Saltzman.

Hope spends about ten minutes tossing and turning in her bed while her brain tells her all the horrible things that could be happening to Josie at that moment, before she can’t take it anymore. The next thing she knows, she is out of her room and knocking on Josie’s door before she has a chance to convince herself not to.

Hope’s supernatural hearing strains to hear inside the room, her heart beating much faster than it should be. She can clearly hear Lizzie say “What the fuck,” followed by a groan from Josie and a mumbled, “I’ll get it,” before her footsteps approach the door.

The door opens and Josie’s face goes from tired and vaguely irritated to surprised and confused, instantly. “Hope?” She whispers uncertainly.

Hope’s body relaxes as soon as Josie comes into view although part of the tension remains in her chest, a part that urges her to reach out and touch Josie, to hold her as close as she can. “Oh, hey, Josie,” Hope says, awkwardly, her anxiety buzzing in her voice.

“What are you doing here?” Josie asks gently, a concerned expression on her face.

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay, after last night,” Hope says, shifting restlessly in place. “I wasn’t sure if you and Lizzie made up or anything…”

“It’s still a little tense, but we’re good now,” Josie says, not particularly convincingly. Then she takes a step closer to Hope, casting a glance back into her room before closing the door behind her to avoid disturbing Lizzie. “Are  _ you _ okay? You don’t seem like yourself.”

Hope screws her eyes shut and lets out a low groan that comes out as more of a growl. “I don’t know. I just all of a sudden felt this need to make sure you were safe, and, like, I know, logically, you’re not in any danger, but I feel like if I can’t see you, then I can’t be sure that you’re okay. And if I can’t be sure that you’re okay, then I feel like I can’t fucking breathe,” Hope cuts herself off abruptly, forcefully taking a few deep breaths, counting each one out in her head.

Josie can’t deny the warm feeling that Hope’s words leave in her chest. Even though she hates seeing Hope like this, Josie can’t help but enjoy knowing that Hope worries about her, that she cares so much. 

Josie lightly places a hand on Hope’s arm to try an ground her a little. “Does this have anything to do with last night?” Josie asks gently.

Hope’s eyes snap open. “Of course! Of course it’s some stupid wolf thing. I should’ve known,” Hope growls out in a frustrated whisper, barely controlling her volume.

“Hey, hey, It’s okay. I’m sure my dad will be able to figure out what’s going on, or at least he’ll know where to look. Right?” Josie says, trying to soothe Hope.

Hope takes a long breath, in and out, before responding. “Right, you’re right. I can talk to him tomorrow and he’ll know what to do,” She says, seemingly more to herself than anything.

“Hope, is there anything I can do to help you, tonight?” Josie asks, knowing that even though she has talked Hope down, the other girl is still far from okay.

Hope’s gaze abruptly becomes intense as it meets Josie’s head on. “Spend the night with me?” Hope asks, her voice a little low and gravely in a way that makes Josie shiver. 

“Okay,” Josie says, surprised by how quickly she responds. “Let me just grab my phone.” She turns to go back into her room, but stalls when she hears Hope call from behind her.

“Um, Josie?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you leave the door open while you’re in there? Just so I can see you?” Hope says, her voice suddenly soft and a little shy.

Josie nods, trying to keep the small smile off her face at the little relived sigh Hope lets out. She leaves the door wide open when she goes back into her room. She can practically feel Hope’s gaze glued to her as she moves to the bedside table to grab her phone and charger. Lizzie appears to have fallen back asleep, so Josie closes the door behind her as quietly as possible.

“Okay, let’s go,” Josie whispers, prompting them to start down the hall to Hope’s room.

Hope walks slightly behind Josie on the way to her room, always making sure that she is entirely within her field of vision. It lessens the tension in Hope’s chest and makes it easier to breath. If Josie notices, she doesn’t say anything, entering Hope’s room in front of her without question.

After entering into Hope’s room, Josie finds an outlet to plug her phone into and Hope just watches her do it. Josie thinks she should find Hope’s staring creepy, or at least a little weird, but Josie can’t help but revel in having Hope Mikaelson’s undivided attention. And maybe that’s sort of selfish, but it’s not like she can stop it, so why not enjoy it a little?

“I think my alarm might be a little earlier than yours, so sorry about that,” Josie says, breaking the heavy silence between them as she moves to the bed.

“That’s okay,” Hope says simply, standing next to the bed, apparently waiting for Josie to get in first.

Josie feels a little self conscious as she crawls into a bed that isn’t her own. She lies down on her side, facing away from Hope, so Hope can’t see the blush on her face. It only takes a moment for Hope to join her, the mattress shifting from her added weight. This time, Hope doesn’t hesitate nearly as much. She doesn’t hover or wait. Her arm slips snugly around Josie’s waist and she swiftly pulls Josie flush against her body. Hope then immediately curls against Josie, her face nestling in the crook of Josie’s neck once again.

If Josie is being honest with herself, and she rarely is, she kind of loves the way Hope’s body relaxes against hers, as if finding Josie’s presence in her arms soothing. Josie finds it rather soothing, too, to be fair. Hope’s arms are solid and strong, and feeling them wrapped around her really does make Josie feel safe, like nothing can touch her, except Hope, and she really doesn’t mind Hope touching her. Josie falls asleep quickly to the soft rhythm of Hope’s breathing.

Josie finds herself awake some time before her alarm. The sky is still dark, so Josie guesses that it’s probably early morning. Hope is somehow even more curled into her, one of her legs getting slung partially over Josie’s at some point in the night. Hope is so warm and enveloping that Josie wishes she didn’t need to untangle herself, but she really needs to pee.

Josie tries to slip out of Hope’s grasp, but it becomes apparent very quickly that that is practically impossible, the arm around her waist only tightening, with a soft grunt falling from Hope’s lips as she pulls her closer. Josie would probably be laughing at how cute this is if she didn’t need to use the bathroom so badly. 

“Hope?” Josie says softly, trying to shift her head a little to see Hope.

Hope makes a soft noise and nuzzles her face more into Josie’s neck. Josie feels the heat rush to her face and she jolts a little, which is thankfully enough to bring Hope out of sleep enough to hear her.

“Hm?” Hope murmurs absently.

“Hope, I need to pee. You’ve got to let me go,” Josie says, laughing lightly.

Hope, despite her sleep addled state, seems to understand and releases her grip on Josie, flopping over to the other side of the bed and promptly curling up again. Josie takes a second to admire how cute Hope looks before making her way to the bathroom.

Once Josie has used the bathroom, she goes to leave, but stalls as she passes by the mirror. There is a slight content smile on her face, and Josie knows that it’s because she was thinking about Hope.

“No, we’re not doing this,” Josie scolds herself in the mirror. “You are not going to have a crush on Hope Mikaelson again. We both know how that went last time, so just stop it.” Josie then gives her reflection a stern look, before seeming satisfied with her own reaction and moving to leave the bathroom once more.

Once Josie gets back to Hope’s room, she crawls back under the covers and starts to fall back to sleep. It doesn’t take long for Hope to scooch over and curl around Josie again, seemingly doing it without even being aware of it. Then Hope makes this soft little huff once she has finished resituating herself, and Josie swears her heart skips a beat.

_ Fuck _ , Josie thinks to herself as she leans reflexively into Hope’s warmth and lets out a small contented sigh.  _ This is going to be harder than I thought. _


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope makes a few soft snuffling noises before raising her head slightly to speak directly into Josie’s ear, her hot breath making Josie shiver. “Hey, are you okay? Your heart rate just spiked,” Hope mumbles softly, her voice full of concern and gravelly from sleep.
> 
> Josie doesn’t mean to flinch at Hope’s voice, but something about the way Hope’s lips just barely graze her ear fills Josie’s head with a whole heap of thoughts that she really doesn’t want to be having right now. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy Folks!  
> Boy, it's been a while. Whoops... I had like half of this chapter done in my drafts for like six weeks and then I just finished the other half in like the last few days. Writer's block is a hell of a drug, huh?  
> Anyways, Enjoy!

When Josie’s alarm rings the next morning, Josie really doesn’t want to get up. Hope doesn’t wake up this time, probably because Josie’s alarm is a lot gentler of a sound than the sharp blaring tone Hope uses to get up every morning. Because Hope doesn’t move at the alarm, Josie has basically zero incentive to ever move again in her life. She feels so warm and secure in Hope’s arms. Plus, it would be a crime to wake the adorable girl buried into her side, so Josie stays put and starts to close her eyes again.

Unfortunately, Josie’s alarm doesn’t stop ringing, it just keeps going and going, and eventually, it starts to make Hope stir. Hope grumbles, clearly not wanting to be awake, and buries her face deeper into the crook of Josie’s neck, lips brushing against her skin. Josie feels her face heat up as she gives a nervous chuckle at the action, trying to keep her heart from racing. Despite her best efforts, though, this ends up being what wakes Hope up.

Hope makes a few soft snuffling noises before raising her head slightly to speak directly into Josie’s ear, her hot breath making Josie shiver. “Hey, are you okay? Your heart rate just spiked,” Hope mumbles softly, her voice full of concern and gravelly from sleep.

Josie doesn’t mean to flinch at Hope’s voice, but something about the way Hope’s lips just barely graze her ear fills Josie’s head with a whole heap of thoughts that she really doesn’t want to be having right now. 

“Uh, yeah,” Josie manages awkwardly, pulling away from Hope a little. “I just was startled by my alarm, I guess.”

“Oh, okay,” Hope says after a second, clearly having trouble processing information so early in the morning. After a long moment, she then says, “I suppose we have to get up now, huh?”

Josie laughs lightly, feeling some of her nervousness fall away. “Yeah, I guess we do,” She says reluctantly.

Hope groans and untangles herself from Josie, rolling to sit on the edge of the bed. “It’s probably for the best. If I go see your dad early, he might actually have time to talk to me for more than five minutes,” She says, running a hand over her face.

“Yeah, and I should probably get back to my room to get ready. I’ll see you later?” Josie says, getting up to grab her phone.

“Yeah, and I’ll let you know what your dad says about what’s going on with me.” Hope hesitates before adding nervously, “Thanks for helping me out, by the way.”

“Of course, Hope,” Josie says, like there had never been a time when Josie wouldn’t have helped her. “Just keep me updated and let me know if there is anything I can do.”

Hope nods and gives a little wave as Josie exits her room. Once Josie is gone, Hope turns her own alarm off as it starts to ring, and moves to get dressed. As Hope gets dressed, she realizes that she can still feel that knawing anxiety about Josie’s safety that she had felt the previous night, which is not good. Thankfully though, it feels manageable in the daylight, so Hope thinks she should be fine. 

After she gets dressed, Hope makes her way to Dr. Saltzman’s office. She knocks on the door and, once his voice calls from within, she lets herself in. Dr. Saltzman sits at his desk with what looks like potential student files in his hands. He looks up to greet Hope with a smile as she walks up to him.

“Good morning, Hope. You’re up a little early,” Dr. Saltzman says, his eyes wandering back down to the papers in his hands.

“Yeah, I actually need to talk to you about something,” Hope says, somewhat awkwardly.

Dr. Saltzman’s gaze immediately snaps back up to Hope, his expression alarmed. “What happened?” He asks, his voice suddenly dark and serious.

“Oh, no, it’s nothing bad like that,” Hope says, knowing what conclusions Dr. Saltzman is jumping to. “It’s just kind of bad, and weird, and I don’t really know what’s going on,” Hope rambles a little, suddenly feeling very self conscious.

Dr. Saltzman schools his face into a patient, caring expression, and motions for for Hope to take a seat.

Hope sits down and then proceeds to explain the odd behavior she experienced the previous night, conveniently leaving out the part where all of her anxiety is focused around just one person. Something tells Hope that admitting that she’s suddenly and inexplicably obsessed with Josie wouldn’t go over well with Dr. Saltzman.

Alaric is silent for a moment after Hope finishes her explanation, appearing deep in thought. Hope forces herself not to snap at him to hurry up.

“That type of behavior definitely sounds like something that would come from your wolf side, but from what I know, it shouldn’t behave like that. It shouldn’t be keeping you up at night, and it definitely shouldn’t be a constant presence. I’ll do some research and make some calls this morning. Why don’t you stop by during lunch so I can tell you what I find?” Dr. Saltzman says, brow furrowed in concentration as he starts to scribble a note on a scrap sheet of paper.

“Okay, sounds good,” Hope says, getting up to leave. “Thanks, Dr. Saltzman.”

“Of course,” Dr. Saltzman says, giving a small wave to Hope as she leaves his office.

As Hope makes her way to her first class, she can feel the lingering anxiety of the previous night still festering, if a bit further back, in her mind. Without even thinking about it, Hope’s enhanced senses are distinctly attuned to any sign of Josie nearby, looking for her in every classroom and listening for her voice around every corner, whether it made sense for her to be there or not. Hope also has to actively resist the urge to follow her instincts and run off towards Josie’s first hour to find her and make sure she is safe. Luckily, Hope has spent most of her life attempting to control her impulses, so she manages it with minimal effort.

Even still, Hope struggles to concentrate in class, Josie seemingly being the only thing she can think about. She spends most of her first class attempting to listen to Josie’s heart rate from across the school. She succeeds for a while, but it ends up making her more anxious rather than less. Also her teacher notices that she’s not paying attention and starts directing questions her way, which forces Hope to try and focus on what is in front of her.

Mercifully, first hour eventually does come to an end and Hope makes her way to her second hour, a class she shares with Josie. Hope isn’t sure if being around Josie will make it easier to focus, but at least it will lessen her anxiety. Hope leans up against the wall outside her second hour, listening for Josie’s arrival.

Hope is embarrassed to say that when Josie does appear at the end of the hall, she smells her before she sees or hears her. She ignores that fact in favor of craning her neck to see Josie make her way toward her. As soon as Hope spots Josie’s soft brown hair and shy smile, the tension in her chest loosens significantly, even as her heart beat quickens.

Hope watches closely as Josie makes her way down the hall. She’s walking with someone, although Hope doesn’t bother to notice who. At one point, the person with Josie must’ve said something, because Josie bursts out laughing with a sound that makes Hope forget that the rest of the world even exists. However, when Josie gets within distance to notice Hope standing next to the door, not so subtly staring at her, the smile drops from Josie’s face, her expression becoming one of concern and curiosity as her eyes lock with Hope’s.

Hope suddenly feels a stab of guilt in her chest. She had been the reason Josie stopped smiling. The guilt is compounded as Josie gets closer and Hope can see the bags under her eyes and the tiredness in her gaze. Josie is tired because Hope woke her up in the middle of the night because of her stupid anxiety and stupid wolf instincts. Hope grows frustrated with herself for allowing her problems to affect Josie, silently making a promise to not bother Josie with her problem anymore.

“Hey, Hope,” Josie says, finally reaching the classroom door. “Did you get to talk to my dad?”

Josie’s voice snaps Hope out of her thoughts and it takes her a moment to regroup. “Uh, yeah, he said he would make some calls and look into it. I’m going to talk with him during lunch to see what he’s come up with.”

“Oh, that’s good,” Josie says, a bit of her smile returning. “I could skip lunch and come with you to find out what he has to say, if you want?”

“No!” Hope says much too quickly. She can’t inconvenience Josie anymore, not to mention she hadn’t exactly told Dr. Saltzman that her anxiety had anything to do with Josie. “I mean, you don’t have to. I can just tell you during sixth hour,” Hope says, trying for a reassuring, normal smile, that definitely fails.

Josie furrows her brow a little but nods in understanding. She moves to enter the classroom, but hesitates. “Are you feeling okay, Hope?”

The worry on Josie’s face makes the spear of guilt in Hope’s chest twist painfully. “Yeah, I’m fine,” Hope says as sincerely as she can manage, but it still doesn’t smooth out the lines on Josie’s face.

“Okay, well, come on then, class is about to start,” Josie says, making her way through the door, Hope following close behind.

Hope has always liked sitting in the back of the classroom, but right now she is especially glad she has a seat claimed in the back row because it allows her to see Josie easily and without drawing anyone’s attention. 

For the entire class period, Hope’s eyes never really leave Josie for more than a few seconds. Her ears adjust to hear Josie’s heart beat, a steady sound that soothes Hope’s anxiety. A few times during the class, when the teacher isn’t looking, Josie glances back at Hope, giving her a small smile each time. If Hope didn’t know any better, she might’ve thought that Josie could tell she was staring intensely at her, but if she did, then why is so calm and casual about it? Certainly, no one likes being stared at, especially if it’s someone they don’t know all that well.

When class ends, Josie tells Hope that she’ll see her in sixth hour and starts off to her next class. Despite the fact that Hope’s next class is in the opposite direction, she starts following Josie without even thinking about it. A few classrooms down, Josie stops to get a drink at a water fountain and she starts a little when she sees Hope still following her.

“Hope? Isn’t your class in the other direction?” Josie asks, praying that Hope doesn’t realize that Josie knows this because she more or less has the other girl’s schedule memorized.

“Huh?” Hope murmurs, shaking her head to clear her thoughts. Every thought in her head feels foggy and submerged unless it’s about Josie, making it harder to navigate the world. 

“Oh, yeah, sorry,” Hope mumbles in response once she has gathered her thoughts. She rubs the back of her neck self consciously, not offering anything by way of explanation.

Josie’s brow furrows when Hope makes no move to head back toward her class. “Are you sure you’re okay, Hope?” Josie asks, stepping forward and just barely touching Hope’s upper arm.

The touch is incredibly light, but Hope feels her whole body relax on contact, her anxious energy melting away as she leans slightly into Josie’s touch. Her mind is a little clearer now, so her response comes a little quicker this time.

“Yeah, I’m just tired,” Hope says with a quick flicker of a smile.

“Okay, well, let me know if there is anything you need,” Josie says sweetly before stepping away.

The loss of the touch retightens the vice around Hope’s lungs suddenly and it makes her lose her breath. She almost reaches out again and tells Josie that she needs her, but she doesn’t. She gives a slight nod and forces herself to turn around and walk in the opposite direction. She can feel her chest tighten more and more as every step she takes puts more distance between her and Josie.

It’s agonizing, but eventually, Hope makes it to lunch time, rushing out of class to Dr. Saltzman’s office, desperate to learn what he’s found out. She doesn’t knock, opening the door a little too forcefully, causing it to smack in to the wall next to it. Dr. Saltzman startles out of the book he had been reading, his eyes wide until they find Hope in the doorway.

“Hope, come on in,” Alaric says, trying to calm his racing heart beat.

Hope takes a seat across from Dr. Saltzman’s desk, her knee bouncing relentlessly as soon as she sits down. Her hands fidget in her lap as she stares at Dr. Saltzman expectantly.

“So?” Hope prompts impatiently.

“So, I made a call to Freya and Keelin. I figured they might have an idea of why this is happening. We had a very long discussion, but I think we managed to come up with a decent explanation.

“What it seems like is that as your instincts are starting to come out, they are compounding with the anxiety you already have to create this heightened distress. Your instincts compel you to protect the people you care about when they are in danger, but your anxiety convinces you that they are always in danger, so it sort of creates this feedback loop, if that makes sense?”

“I guess, but why is it happening now?” Hope asks.

“There are a few possibilities, but my guess would just be puberty. As you’re maturing, your instincts are developing, so that’s why they are only becoming a problem now,” Alaric explains. “Although, I don’t think you mentioned before, but does it feel like your anxiety is manifesting around any particular person?”

Hope tenses at the question. “No, why?”

“It’s just that wolf instincts tend to be more potent towards children and potential mates. If that were the case, it would explain what the catalyst was and we might be able to treat you more effectively. So let me know if it seems like that is the case.”

Hope nods, feeling her stomach churn uncomfortably as her mind immediately thinks of Josie. Still, she doesn’t say anything, fearing Alaric’s reaction and the implications of such an admittance.

“Anyways, Keelin recommended a few herbal remedies and Freya had a few spells we could try. We considered increasing your anxiety medication, but it’s probably best if we leave that as a last resort. I wrote down what they told me,” Alaric says, handing Hope a piece of paper with barely legible handwriting on it. “I’ll also keep reading to see what I can find. Let me know if anything changes, okay?”

“Okay,” Hope says, already wrinkling the paper in her fidgeting hands.

“Oh, and I’ll let your teachers know what is going on, so try your best, but don’t worry about your work right now. Just try and get some sleep,” Alaric says kindly.

Hope nods and leaves the office. She spends the rest of her lunch hour looking for some of the herbs for the herbal remedies in the storage room.

When Hope gets to sixth hour, the first thing she notices is, predictably, Josie. In this class, Hope sits right behind Josie, which makes it easy to update her on the situation before class starts. Josie turns around, sporting a smile and a expectant look, as soon as Hope approaches her desk.

“So, how’d it go? Does my dad know what’s going on?” Josie says animatedly.

“Yeah, mostly. He said that it’s probably that my wolf instincts are just starting to express themselves now, because puberty or what ever, but they’re getting mixed up with my anxiety, which is making them, like, hyperactive,” Hope explains awkwardly.

“Oh, that makes sense. What are you going to do about it?” Josie asks, her voice lowering as the teacher begins to instruct in the background.

Hope fumbles for the crumpled list of herbal remedies and spells that she has folded in her pocket. She waits until the teacher isn’t looking to pass the paper to Josie so she can look at it. Josie gives it a quick look over before handing it back.

“Do you need any help getting supplies?” Josie whispers over her shoulder.

Hope shakes her head. “I got them during lunch.”

Josie almost seems disappointed at that. “Well, let me know if I can help, Hope,” She says, probably for the fifth time today. Not that Hope minds Josie offering to help, but she has no intention of taking her up on it, and the more Josie says it, the more Hope starts to feel a little guilty about that.

Hope gives Josie what she hopes is a reassuring smile before they both finally focus on the lesson for the day. The teacher gives them a dirty look, but seeing as they are now paying attention, doesn’t say anything.

Once classes are over for the day, Hope goes to the library to try and force herself to focus on her school work, and definitely not because Josie also happened to be studying in there. During dinner, Hope ends up sitting by herself at a table nearby where Josie and her friends are sitting, by complete coincidence, of course. If Josie notices Hope’s casual stalking, she doesn’t show it, only glancing up every once in a while to give Hope a brief smile before turning back to where her sister is talking animatedly.

After dinner, Hope gives Josie one last lingering look before trudging off to her room. She digs out some of the herbs she gathered early and starts making some tea. Hope underestimates how hot her heat spell will make the water, so while she is waiting for the tea to cool down she digs out an old spell book to look up one of the spells her aunt Freya had suggested. The first one she finds ends up being one that supposedly should steady her heart rate for at least four hours, which sounds like a fine place to start.

Hope reads over the spell while she tries her tea. The tea tastes awful, but she’s not really a tea person anyways, so after tasting it, she gulps the rest down in one go. The warmth in her belly is sort of relaxing. After letting the unfamiliar words of the spell roll of her tongue for a bit, Hope chants the spell, immediately feeling the difference as her heartbeat slows considerably. For a second, Hope irrationally worries that it might stop, which causes the rhythm to speed up just a little despite the spell. Hope sighs and tries not to think too hard about it as she crawls into bed, praying to some unknown god for at least a few hours of sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We’re not friends, Josie. Sure, we might’ve grown up together, but we’ve never really hung out or talked. And you ignored me for years because of Lizzie’s grudge. That doesn’t sound like friends to me.”
> 
> “Hope…” Josie says defeated, knowing that she can’t argue.
> 
> “It’s not your problem, Josie, so just don’t worry about it,” Hope says coldly before spinning on her heels and heading off down the hall, away from Josie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy Folks!   
> I know I haven't posted anything in a while, and honestly, I feel like I don't really need to explain. Things are stressful in the world right now and your girl out here not living her best life right now. I really appreciate all of you guys for reading despite my inconsistent updates and I hope I can bring a little joy into your lives with this, like you do for me.  
> Also there is like the barest amount of angst in this chapter and I just want to say, I have a soft heart so you better believe that this angst will be resolved very quickly so we can get back to the fluff.  
> Enjoy!

Hope has no idea what time it is when she jolts awake in her pitch black room. Her heart is racing and her breathing is frantic. She doesn’t even have time to remember why this is happening to her before she is on her feet and rushing out of her room. Even though Hope’s eyes glow an ominous yellow that allows her to see through the darkness, she isn’t navigating the halls by her familiarity, but rather her perceived proximity to Josie.

When Hope finally reaches Josie’s room, she skids to a stop in front of the door. Being close enough to hear Josie’s heartbeat allows Hope to finally get a hold of herself, managing to stop her hand halfway to opening the door. Every fiber of Hope’s body begs her to close the distance to the knob so she can see Josie’s face, hear her voice, and feel her warmth as she wraps her arms around her, but Hope’s guilt pierces just as sharp as her anxiety. She remembers Josie’s yawns and tired eyes the previous day, imagines the exhausted, disgruntled look on her face if Hope were to wake her up now, both of which serve to drop Hope’s hand to her side and make her disgusted at herself for even considering disrupting Josie’s sleep again.

Hope sways on her feet a little in front of the door, her exhaustion catching up with her. She knows she should turn around and head back to her room, but she can’t make herself move an inch. She strains her ears to hear Josie’s soft, even breathing, which helps to calm Hope’s own panting. 

_ Maybe she could stay for a little bit, just to make sure Josie is safe. _

Without another thought, Hope slowly eases herself onto ground in front of the twins’ door, curling up with her arms and legs tucked under her body. After a few moments, Hope starts to fall into a sort of half sleep state, continually drifting between rest and the sound of Josie’s heartbeat. It isn’t really sleep and she’s bound to still be exhausted by morning, but it’s much better than whatever panic she was in before.

At some point during the night, Hope must’ve managed to drift into actual sleep because she jolts awake as a body collides with hers. It takes Hope a second to orient herself, blinking her eyes in the dim light of early morning. However, when she hears the mumbled swears of the body on top of her, swears that unmistakably came from the mouth of Lizzie Saltzman, Hope remembers where she is and scrambles away from Lizzie as quickly as she can.

Lizzie continues to grumble as she gets to her feet. After a moment, her eyes find Hope sprawled on the ground a few feet away, the other girl looking at Lizzie with something like terror in her eyes. 

“Hope?” Lizzie says, scowling. “What the fuck are you doing?”

Hope feels panic in her veins, a very different kind of panic the that of the previous night. She jumps to her unsteady feet, grasping desperately for something to get her out of this situation.

“I, uh, I have to go,” Hope manages before turning and practically sprinting down the hall.

Lizzie’s frowns deeply as she watches Hope run away. She somehow manages to look more irritated than confused at Hope’s odd behavior. She turns back to her room, momentarily forgetting why she had come out in the first place.

“Josie?” Lizzie calls to her sister’s sleeping form as she takes a few steps back inside the room.

“What?” Josie groans sleepily, not lifting her head from her pillow.

“Why the hell was Hope Mikaelson playing watch dog outside our room?”

Josie immediately sits up, rubbing her eyes before giving her sister a confused look. “What?” She says, still sounding half asleep, but the concern in her voice is clear.

“I just fucking tripped over Hope, who was laying outside our door for some godawful reason,” Lizzie sneers with a roll of her eyes. “I’m a little surprised, she didn’t seem like the stalking type.”

Josie doesn’t bother to give her sister a response. She goes still, her brow furrowing as she stares at the open bedroom door, like if she looks long enough Hope will appear again and explain what is going on. But, of course, Hope doesn’t appear and Josie is left to start her morning too early, worried, and full of questions.

When Hope gets back to her room, she immediately starts pacing the floor, desperately trying to think of a way to explain herself when she is inevitably questioned. It would be different if it had been Josie who found her, because at least Josie knew what was going on. But, no, it had to be Lizzie. Lizzie who already hates her and doesn’t know how to keep anything to herself. Hope has almost worn a hole in the floor by the time she realizes that maybe she’s not being productive by fixating on what’s making her most anxious.

Hope forces herself to take a few deep breaths before going over to her desk and recasting the spell from the previous night. It  _ had _ worked, if temporarily, so it is worth a try to calm her down for the moment. She hates the way her hands shake a little as she performs the spell, but she can feel her heart rate steady within seconds. It doesn’t exactly solve all of her problems, but it sure makes it easier to think.

Once Hope has calmed down, her exhaustion comes crashing back down. Under the influence of only a few hours of sleep, Hope decides that ignoring her problem is probably the best solution for now. She rubs her eyes roughly and moves to start her morning routine. 

Once Hope has finished getting ready, she still has about an hour of extra time before her first class. She pulls out the old spellbook and goes to look at the other spells her aunt had recommended. Most of the spells are about the same as the one she’s already tried, temporary physical effects that could only mitigate Hope’s anxiety if she had enough sense to use them, which she certainly didn’t trust herself to do, considering what had happened last night.

Hope studies the spells through the time she would normally have breakfast, although that is mostly because she’s not ready to face Lizzie’s questions, or Josie’s, if she’s being honest. However, her avoidance plan clearly doesn’t work, because about 15 minutes before class is to start, there is a knock on Hope’s door.

Hope freezes where she stands, haphazardly putting her half finished homework into her backpack. She listens closely, plainly able to tell that Josie is outside her door and doesn’t seem to be leaving after getting no response.

“Hope, I know you’re in there,” Josie says, her voice still gentle despite calling Hope out. “I just want to make sure that you’re okay.”

Hope knows she should say something, but she has no idea what it would be.

Josie sighs. “Okay, well, let me know if you need anything, Hope. I’ll see you in second hour.”

Hope’s chest tightens as she listens to Josie’s footsteps sound further and further away from her.

After that, Hope couldn’t get Josie off her mind even more than before. Her thoughts flipped back and forth between worrying about Josie’s safety and feeling guilty about Josie have to deal with her at all. Hope just wishes that she had never gotten Josie into this mess in the first place. She deserves better than this, better than Hope.

Hope barely manages to make it through her first hour, completely restless and unable to focus. She ends up tearing up one of her notebooks during the class and had to stay back a few minutes to clean up all of the tiny pieces of shredded paper that she had scattered across the floor.

Hope doesn’t actually go to her second hour. That would mean having to face Josie and admit to sleeping outside her door the previous night and ignoring her that morning. Instead, Hope paces around outside the classroom, close enough to hear Josie’s heartbeat and occasionally see her through the window by the door.

Hope doesn’t end up going to any of her other classes that day, either. She only lingers outside of whatever class Josie is in, trying her best to stay out of sight. If Josie notices that Hope is stalking her throughout the day, she doesn’t say anything.

Just as the last class of the day is let out, Hope’s name is called over the intercom, instructing her to see Dr. Saltzman. As much as it pains Hope to leave Josie’s vicinity, she is glad to be forced to stop following Josie around like a creep. She makes her way to Dr. Saltzman’s office, trying not to think about the way her chest tightens as she gets further away from Josie.

Josie absolutely notices Hope pacing around outside all of her classes, and following her down the halls, and out of the corner of her eye at lunch. Luckily, Lizzie doesn’t seem to notice, which is good because Josie barely managed to pacify Lizzie about finding Hope outside their room that morning. Josie can only imagine how she’d react if she knew Hope was basically stalking her.

Josie tries several times throughout the day to talk to Hope, but every time, as soon as Josie gets even a little bit closer, Hope darts away. It is incredibly frustrating to have Hope just out of reach, for a few reasons.

So when Josie hears Hope get called to her dad’s office, she knows that this is her chance to corner her. After the end of her last class, Josie waits for a minute or two before giving Lizzie some excuse about needing to return a library book and heading over to her dad’s office. The door is closed when she gets there, which is a good sign. If she strains to hear, Josie thinks she can catch snippets of Hope’s voice. Josie is tempted to eavesdrop on the whole conversation, but she’s pretty sure that if she gets caught, Hope will probably never speak to her again. So she waits instead.

When Hope emerges from Dr. Saltzman’s office, she immediately catches sight of Josie and freezes like a deer in the headlights. Her eyes are sunken and bloodshot, even more so than the day before, and her hair looks like she has been running her hands through it all day.

“J-Josie, hey,” Hope says shakily, looking more uncertain than Josie has ever seen her. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to see what’s going on. I didn’t see you in class today and I was worried,” Josie says, deciding not to point out how blatantly Hope had been trailing her all day. “Are you okay?” Josie asks, taking a step closer.

Hope basically flinches backwards from Josie, making Josie think that she had made the wrong choice in coming to confront Hope. Hope refuses to look at Josie, too, her eyes flicking about like she’s searching for an escape route.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Everything’s fine,” Hope says, incredibly unconvincingly.

Josie furrows her brow at that, her fists clenching unconsciously at her side. “What are you talking about, Hope? I know what’s going on with you, and I have a feeling those spells and herbal teas didn’t magic it all away, considering I found you outside my door this morning. And I know that for some ridiculous reason you’d rather suffer alone than accept help from anyone, but maybe I’m not giving you a choice,” Josie pauses, realizing her words came out harsher than she meant. Hope doesn’t seem to respond, so Josie continues, “I’m going to help you whether you like it or not, so please let me.”

Hope is silent for a long moment, her tired eyes still wide with panic, although now, finally, looking at Josie. “Why?” Hope says so softly that Josie barely hears it.

“Because we’re friends, Hope,” Josie says, feeling like she is practically begging at this point.

“No, we’re not,” Hope says sharply, her gaze hardening.

“What? What are you talking about?”

“We’re not friends, Josie. Sure, we might’ve grown up together, but we’ve never really hung out or talked. And you ignored me for years because of Lizzie’s grudge. That doesn’t sound like friends to me.”

“Hope…” Josie says defeated, knowing that she can’t argue.

“It’s not your problem, Josie, so just don’t worry about it,” Hope says coldly before spinning on her heels and heading off down the hall, away from Josie.

Josie can only watch Hope walk away, not knowing whether to be angry at Hope for talking her way out of accepting help again or angry at herself for tricking herself into actually believing that they were friends. Either way, she is certain of the guilt that settles coldly into her stomach at the reminder of how terrible she has been to Hope.

Hope slams the door of her dorm a little too hard when she gets back to her room. Her breathing is shallow and her chest is tight. She’s not sure if it’s because of her argument with Josie or just the fact that this is the furthest away she’s been from Josie all day. She quickly goes over to her desk to cast one of the calming spells, but she’s full of such anxious energy that she keeps messing it up. After a few failed casts, Hope just gives up with a frustrated growl, shoving the spell book off of her desk.

In her meeting with Alaric, he had mentioned that if the spells and herbs weren’t doing the job that shifting might alleviate some of the tension building up inside her, letting her wolf take control for a while so that it will be calmer during the day. Hope is definitely feeling that familiar itch to let loose and run through the woods, but she still has to wait until the sun goes down before she’s allowed to shift. That restraint leaves Hope feeling even more restless than before, so she grabs her workout bag and heads to the gym to keep herself occupied until sunset.

Hope blasts some music in her ears and works the reinforced punching bag for the next couple of hours. Within a minute or so of Hope arriving, everyone in the gym chose to vacate the premises to avoid becoming collateral damage. Anyone who frequents the gym at Salvatore knows that it is a bad idea to be there when Hope is, mostly because Hope only comes to the gym when she has an issue she needs to punch out. Hope doesn’t even really notice the other students leave, purposefully trying to ignore her senses so she doesn’t notice if Josie is nearby.

By the time the sun has descended below the horizon, Hope is coated in sweat and, somehow, even more restless than when she started. She gives the punching bag one last hook that leaves it quaking before tearing the wraps off her hands with her teeth, grabbing her bag, and running outside to finally let her wolf out.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You don’t have to tell me who it is, Hope, but I need to know if your anxiety seems to be focused on a particular person,” Alaric says as gently as he can.
> 
> Hope’s teeth sink harder into the flesh of her cheek, imagining how Dr. Saltzman would respond if he knew it was Josie they were talking about. Eventually, she nods, not raising her head to see his reaction.
> 
> Alaric waits a moment before asking, “You have a crush on this person?”
> 
> “Yes,” Hope manages weakly. Even though it’s very indirect, Hope is pretty sure this is the first time she’s ever admitted out loud that she has a crush on Josie. She’s not sure how to feel about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy Folks!  
> First of all, thank you so much for all the love in the comments of the last chapter! You guys are all so sweet and I appreciate you so much! I really wanted to respond to each one, but then I got really anxious about it, so just know, I did read your comment, and I love you.  
> Second of all, holy shit, am I actually finishing a project for like the first time in my life? You better believe it, babey! This is going to be the last big chapter of the story. I'm thinking of doing a short little epilogue after this, because I didn't get to use all of the ideas I had in the main story and also I just can't say no to more of these two being adorable.  
> I've never been very good with endings (I usually don't make it that far), so if you could tell me what you think of the ending, I would love that, thanks!  
> Enjoy!

It’s probably about midnight when Lizzie is woken up by a sound outside her door. She groans and ignores it, but then it comes again and again. Lizzie glances at her sister to see that she is not going to wake up anytime soon and sighs as she forces herself to get out of bed.

“Alright, whoever is behind this door is going to lose a--” Lizzie whispers as she opens the door, cutting herself off when she doesn’t immediately see a person on the other side. Lizzie frowns before her gaze is dragged down by something brushing against her leg. She almost chokes on her breath when she sees it.

There is a giant white wolf with piercing yellow eyes trying to worm its way past Lizzie’s legs to get into the room. Lizzie almost falls as the wolf forces itself through the doorway. She grips onto the doorframe to keep her balance and struggles not to start spewing confused profanities as she watches the wolf make a beeline for Josie’s bed.

The wolf is surprisingly graceful as it hops onto the foot of Josie’s bed, the mattress bending under its weight. It paces for a few seconds before settling in as close to Josie as it can without disturbing her. Josie murmurs softly in her sleep and shuffles a little closer to the soft warmth that has just joined her.

Lizzie stares in shock, her tired brain struggling to process what is going on. Her first instinct is to go get their dad, but, thankfully, her brain eventually boots up and she remembers that there is only one student who can shift at will.

“Hope?” Lizzie whisper-yells at the wolf. “What the fuck are you doing? What the fuck is going on?”

It takes a few more seconds for Lizzie to remember that Hope can’t exactly answer her questions at the moment. She groans and scrubs her hands over her face. This is not something that she should have to deal with by herself.

Lizzie moves to wake Josie up by shaking her shoulder, but she doesn’t get within three feet before she is stopped by a deep growl and a pair of yellow eyes.

“Seriously, Hope! This is so stupid,” Lizzie exclaims quietly at the wolf still laying at her sister’s feet. She continues to move towards Josie despite the wolf’s warnings.

Hope moves in a flash, getting to her feet and positioning herself between Lizzie and Josie. She bares her teeth but keeps her growl low, clearly trying not to disturb Josie.

“Hope! What the fuck? She’s _my_ sister, since when do you decide when I can wake her up or not,” Lizzie whispers harshly, trying to move around the massive wolf.

Lizzie’s insistence quickly earns her a nip from Hope’s jaws. Lizzie cries out as she recoils, unable to keep her voice down in the moment.

“Hope, what the fuck!” Lizzie snaps, not even trying to whisper at this point. Thankfully, though, this noise is what finally shakes Josie from her sleep.

“Huh? What’s going on?” Josie murmurs sleepily.

“Your mutt just bit me!” Lizzie hisses, taking a step forward, which earns her another growl from Hope.

“What?” Josie mutters, as she sits up and rubs the sleep from her eyes. Once she blinks into the darkness, it doesn’t take her long to spot the massive white wolf at her side. “Hope?” Josie says, eyes wide as the wolf turns to face her.

As if recognizing that Josie is awake, the wolf’s demeanor changes instantly, her ears perking up and her tail starting to wag casually. The wolf, then, without warning, attempts to burrow her head under one of Josie’s arms.

“Hope, what are you--” Josie sputters with a giggle as Hope situates herself under Josie’s arm and partially under her blankets. Josie can’t help but smile at the way this terrifying beast lays its head in her lap and nudges her for attention. Josie also can’t deny the wolf’s request, scratching behind its fluffy ears.

“Um, hello? Josie, what the fuck is going on?” Lizzie hisses, snapping Josie out of her reverie. “Why the hell is fido waking me up at midnight to sleep in your bed?”

“I don’t know, Lizzie,” Josie says, and, yeah, it’s kind of a lie, but she doesn’t have the energy to explain everything right now.

“Well, get her into human form again so she can explain what is going on!”

“I don’t know how to do that, Lizzie,” Josie says tiredly, only half of her attention on her sister, the other half devoted to petting Hope, who is much softer than Josie would’ve thought.

Lizzie groans. “Well, can you at least get her out of our room?”

“Actually, that’s a good idea. She’ll probably need some clothes when she wakes up, so it’ll be better if we’re in her room,” Josie says, getting out of bed and grabbing her phone with Hope at her heels.

“Wait, you’re going to go with her?” Lizzie says with a scowl. “What are you, her dog sitter?”

Josie rolls her eyes. “I’m sorry, did you want to try and force the giant werewolf out the door and lose a couple of limbs in the process or did you want to get some sleep tonight?”

Lizzie frowns at her sister’s sarcasm. “Fine, just make sure she doesn’t eat you while you sleep or whatever.”

“Goodnight, Lizzie,” Josie says, pointedly ignoring Lizzie’s last comment as she heads out the door.

The next morning, Hope wakes up to the sound of Josie’s alarm, only to find herself completely naked on top of the blankets of her own bed. It takes a split second and a small rustle next to her before Hope realizes the position she is in. She immediately vaults off the bed, scrambling for nearest pair of clothes from the ones carelessly strewn about her room.

Hope tugs on a pair of athletic shorts, throws a two week old sweatshirt over her head, and turns around just in time to see Josie sitting up in her bed. Josie rubs the sleep from her eyes before turning her gaze to Hope, an amused expression sliding onto her face, like she’s perfectly aware of why Hope is out of breath and her face is bright red.

“Morning!” Hope squeaks out suddenly, her voice cracking to an embarrassing degree.

“Morning, Hope,” Josie says, sounding very much like she is trying not to laugh.

Hope only manages to meet Josie’s gaze for a few seconds, proceeding to groan and press the palms of her hands a little too hard against her eyes in embarrassment of, well, everything that had happened the day before. How does Josie even put up with her?

“Josie…” Hope starts, struggling to find any words that could make up for how terrible she has been to Josie lately. “I’m sorry… about, well, a lot of things, but specifically for what I said yesterday. After everything we’ve been through, it was a really dick move of me to be so rude when you were just trying to reach out and help me. You didn’t deserve that and I’m really sorry,” Hope says, seemingly unable to meet Josie’s eyes as she does so.

“Thank you, Hope, but you weren’t completely wrong. We’re not really friends, but, you know, I would really like it if we could be,” Josie says shyly.

Hope finally raises her head to meet Josie’s eyes, a slightly surprised look on her face. “I’d like that too,” She says softly, like she’s sharing some forbidden truth.

The two girls smile at each other for a long moment before being brought back to reality by Josie’s alarm going off again.

Josie quickly turns her alarm off before clearing her throat to break the tension. “I should probably go get ready, but I’m coming back tonight to make sure you can catch up on all that lost sleep.” 

From Josie’s tone, Hope knows there is no point in arguing with her. Instead, she just laughs nervously. “Yeah, I actually have to go talk to Dr. Saltzman anyways to let him know how shifting went.”

“Sounds good, I’ll see you later then,” Josie says, getting out of Hope’s bed, grabbing her phone, and heading for the door.

Hope nods and watches as Josie approaches the door. Her chest tightens as Josie moves away from her and it practically feels like she’s having limb torn off.

“Um, actually, Josie?” Hope calls just as Josie is about to cross the threshold of the room.

Josie immediately turns around. “Yeah, Hope?”

Hope doesn’t manage to get any words out. Instead, she just rushes forward and wraps her arms around Josie, enveloping herself in the smell and feel of being close to her.

Josie freezes for only a second before bringing her arms around Hope’s shoulders and relaxing into Hope’s sturdy warmth.

Hope’s head rests right over Josie’s heart, the steady beat soothing Hope’s anxiety. Josie rubs soothing circles along Hope’s back that pulls Hope out of her anxious thoughts, her mind going blank as it follows the gentle eb and flow of Josie’s movement.

It takes a long time before Hope manages to pull away. Even once she has pulled back, she stays close for a long moment, trying to convince herself to separate completely.

“Is there anything I can do, Hope?” Josie says, clearly seeing the conflict on Hope’s face.

“Just, be careful, please,” Hope murmurs weakly. Hope knows exactly how silly she sounds right now, how irrational her fear is, but her wolf isn’t so quick on the uptake, and she can’t exactly argue with her wolf.

“I will,” Josie says seriously, meeting Hope’s gaze intensely to show how much she means it.

“Thanks,” Hope mumbles, finally forcing herself to step away from Josie. “I’ll see you in second hour.” Hope manages a weak smile.

“See you,” Josie says, feeling almost as reluctant to leave as Hope looks. Still, she turns around and walks out of Hope’s room and back to her own to get ready for classes.

Hope watches Josie leave for much longer than she should have. Once Josie is far enough away, Hope rips herself away from staring down the hallway to cast one of the calming spells so she can get a little more of a grip. Then she puts her hair up in a pony tail and makes her way to Dr. Saltzman’s office.

Thankfully, Dr. Saltzman is in his office when Hope arrives, inviting her in when she knocks on the frame of the open door.

“Good morning, Hope,” Dr. Saltzman says, putting some papers aside on his desk. “How did things go last night?”

“Not great,” Hope says with a slight grimace. Dr. Saltzman’s eyes immediately widen in fear, causing Hope to correct herself, “I mean, like nothing bad happened, but it didn’t exactly go the way we were hoping.”

Dr. Saltzman furrows his brow. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I went for a run, but I may have come back inside the school without having shifted back. I ended up in my own bed, so everything’s fine, but it didn’t help to calm my wolf down really,” Hope explains, glossing over the part where her wolf invited itself into Josie’s bed.

“Right, well, I suppose that ended better than it could’ve, but we’re still back where we started.” Dr. Saltzman pauses, giving Hope an unreadable look that makes her skin crawl. He takes a deep breath before he continues in a very purposefully neutral tone, “Hope, I know I asked you about this before and, given what I told you that would mean, I don’t blame you for being uncomfortable telling me about it. However, I do need to know what’s actually going on if I am going to help.”

Hope stares intently at the floor, chewing on the inside of her cheek, wishing she could be anywhere else, preferably near Josie, but mostly away from the question she knows is coming.

“You don’t have to tell me who it is, Hope, but I need to know if your anxiety seems to be focused on a particular person,” Alaric says as gently as he can.

Hope’s teeth sink harder into the flesh of her cheek, imagining how Dr. Saltzman would respond if he knew it was Josie they were talking about. Eventually, she nods, not raising her head to see his reaction.

Alaric waits a moment before asking, “You have a crush on this person?”

“Yes,” Hope manages weakly. Even though it’s very indirect, Hope is pretty sure this is the first time she’s ever admitted out loud that she has a crush on Josie. She’s not sure how to feel about that.

“Okay,” Alaric says with a sigh, some of the tension leaving the room. “Assuming you haven’t told this person how you feel, I think I can make sense of what is going on.”

“I haven’t,” Hope mutters quickly.

Alaric nods. “In that case, if you remember what I said earlier, about how wolf instincts tend to manifest more intensely around offspring and mates, it seems likely that your instincts are coming into conflict with, well, what it’s like to be a teenager. Your wolf doesn’t really understand whether or not this person is your “mate” or why you would be uncertain about that, and I believe that’s what’s causing the amount of tension you’re experiencing, along with the usual anxiety that comes with romantic uncertainty at a young age.”

Alaric chuckles dryly. “The world of animal instinct and the world of teenage social dynamics don’t exactly mix particularly well.”

“So, what do I do?”

“Well, as much as I’m sure this is the last thing you want to hear, I think the best way to start alieveateing the tension is to make it clear to your wolf whether you have a “mate” or not,” Alaric says, sympathetically.

“You mean I have to…”

“Tell them,” Alaric finishes for Hope after she trails off, a terrified expression on her face.

Hope stares into space for a long moment, just trying to process what’s been said through her sleep deprived brain.

“I understand that this is a very difficult thing to ask, but it’s the only way I can see this getting better any time soon. Please, take all the time you need in figuring this out, but I would recommend doing it sooner rather than later, considering how little sleep you’ve been managing to get.”

“Right,” Hope says absently, getting to her feet for a reason she doesn’t seem particularly clear on, considering she stands there for a solid minute staring into space. Eventually, she resurfaces from her thoughts to meet Alaric’s gaze. “Thank you, Dr. Saltzman.”

“Of course, Hope. Let me know how things go,” Alaric says with a reassuring smile.

Hope gives a weak smile in return before heading out the door.

Hope’s day goes by incredibly slowly, every second spent deliberating on how to tell Josie that she likes her. Hope’s not even sure that like is the right word, but that’s a problem for another day. Hope spends half of the day being very much convinced that there is no way that she could ever tell Josie, before remembering that she doesn’t exactly have a choice unless she wants to spend the rest of her life being anxious and having no concept of boundaries.

It’s around 8 at night when Hope finally lands on what she’s going to say. She even wrote it down on a notecard before for feeling very silly and throwing it out. Once Hope has steeled herself for the conversation, she realizes that she doesn’t know when Josie is planning on coming to her room. It’s probably not for at least another hour, considering no one she knows even considers going to be before 9. Hope paces her room for a few minutes before deciding she can’t wait and heading over to Josie’s room, praying that Lizzie won’t be there for her to make this whole thing even more embarrassing.

Hope knocks tentatively on the twins’ door, secretly hoping that no one will answer so she can put this off for even a little bit longer. Unfortunately, the door does swing open after a moment, and thankfully, it is Josie on the other side of it.

“Hope?” Josie says in slight surprise. “I was just about to head over, actually. I wasn’t sure how tired you were, so I thought I’d come a little earlier than normal. Anyways, what’s up?”

Hope almost forgets how to talk for a second, her mind going blank in a blind effort to make it so she doesn’t have to do this. Realizing how awkward her pause is, Hope quickly sputters out her prepared opening.

“I wanted to talk, if that’s okay?” Hope says, much too quickly.

“Yeah, sure, come on in,” Josie says, stepping back from the doorway.

Hope’s eyes immediately scan the room, looking for any trace that Lizzie might be here to ruin everything she prepared.

Josie seems to notice what Hope is doing and says, “Lizzie is over at MG’s tonight. They’re speed running the rest of their english project for tomorrow, so I don’t expect her to come back until like two in the morning if at all.”

“Oh, okay,” Hope says, relaxing slightly.

Josie leads them over to her bed and sits down, patting the spot next to her for Hope. Hope hesitates before taking a seat a little further away from where Josie had indicated. Hope knows that she should probably be facing Josie while she does this, but she can’t bring herself to, instead staring down at the floor, hands fidgeting in her lap.

“So, what did you want to talk about?”

Hope takes a deep breath, mentally skimming the notecard she had thrown away. “Firstly, I wanted to apologize again for last night. I usually have better control of my wolf form, or at least know better than to come back to campus without shifting back. I can’t imagine what I --”

“It’s okay, Hope. You don’t have to apologize again,” Josie says, quickly and firmly cutting Hope off. “Besides, you’re really cute in wolf form.”

Hope feels her face heat up. “Well, I don’t think anyone’s every said that before, but thanks,” Hope says awkwardly.

“Plus, I think it’s Lizzie you should be saving your apologies for. She’s still not over you biting her,” Josie says with a little laugh.

Hope huffs a little and rolls her eyes. “It wasn’t a bite, it was a nip,” She says defensively.

“What’s the difference?” Josie asks, looking incredibly amused.

“Well, a bite has venom in it, so if I bit her she would probably be dead.”

Josie snorts. “Okay, that’s a fair distinction to make, though I’m still not sure she’d appreciate it.”

“Yeah, probably not,” Hope says with a tense chuckle before trying to sharply veer back toward what she originally planned to say. “But, um, secondly, I need to tell you something,” Hope continues haltingly, struggling to get the words out of her mouth.

Josie watches Hope patiently, as Hope stares at her hands trying to remember what she had planned on saying. By now, Hope has gotten to the point where she’s nervously cracking her knuckles with almost enough force to pop them out of their socket, not that she notices.

“So, um, you know, I talked to your dad this morning, and, well, he was explaining something, well, no, actually, he had said, uh, I-I mean…” Hope stammers, managing to trip and fall face first over her own words.

Hope’s fumbling only comes to a stop when Josie places her hand on Hope’s arm. Hope finally turns to look at Josie, Josie who is looking at her with such kindness and patience, Josie whose hand is gentle and reassuring on her arm, Josie who never stopped offering to help Hope even when she was being the most difficult person in the world. Hope brings her hand up to cover Josie’s, giving it a little squeeze.

Hope sits there for a long moment, trying to recollect her thoughts. Eventually, she throws the notecard in her head away and turns to face Josie fully. She brings Josie’s hand off of her arm and into her lap where she cradles it with both hands, clinging to it like a lifeline.

“Josie… it took me forever to realize this, and even longer to accept it, for reasons I’m nowhere near ready to process yet, and I’m sorry it took so long, but I think it’s about time that I admit that I have a pretty big, and definitely embarrassing crush on you. And that’s sort of why this is all happening.”

Hope lets out a shuddering breath, her grip tightening unconsciously around Josie’s hand. She doesn’t have the willpower to look up and see Josie’s reaction, instead letting her eyes stay locked on the hand stretched out between them. 

Josie is silent for a long moment, long enough that Hope starts to talk again.

“And I know this is weird, and I’m sorry that I put you through all of this. I totally get it if you don’t want to be friends anymore, and I’m really sorry if--”

Hope is cut off by a gentle hand cupping her jaw, bring her face up to look deeply into Josie’s warm brown eyes. Josie is closer than Hope remembers her being and she has this soft, fond smile on her face that doesn’t make any sense to Hope.

“Hope, it’s okay,” Josie say, her voice impossibly soft and just barely above a whisper. “I may or may not have a pretty big, embarrassing crush on you too.”

Hope’s eyes go wide, and before her tired brain can even come to terms with Josie’s confession, a sharp laugh bursts from her lungs. She can’t seem to stop it. She just laughs, and smiles, and her eyes start to water, making it incredibly difficult to tell if she laughing or crying. She’s not even really sure at this point.

Hope pulls away slightly from Josie, only to collapse forward and burrow her head into Josie’s lap. Josie freezes for a moment in surprise before bringing her arms around Hope as her body convulses in her lap.

“Hope, are you okay?” Josie asks, her voice an uncertain mixture of confusion, concern, and amusement.

“Yeah, sorry,” Hope manages, struggling to catch her breath. “It’s just too much at once. God, it’s been a long couple of days.”

Josie relaxes slightly from knowing that Hope is okay, and chuckles at the absurdity of the situation. “It’s okay, Hope. I get it. Take all the time you need,” Josie says, gently starting to run her hands through Hope’s hair to hopefully help calm her down.

Eventually, Hope catches her breath and gets a hold over herself enough to drag herself out of Josie’s lap. When she emerges, she has this big silly grin on her face, that only gets bigger when she meets Josie’s eyes and is struck with a wave of disbelief that someone so amazing is in her life. Josie doesn’t seem to mind her staring, she just smiles back and reaches out to intertwine their fingers.

“Josie?” Hope says after a long moment, sounding slightly dazed from the whole situation.

“Yeah?”

“Can I kiss you?”

Josie has to bite her bottom lip to stop the ridiculous smile trying to crawl its way onto her face. “Yes,” She says with a very enthusiastic nod.

Hope scoots closer and brings her hand up to cup Josie’s face faster than humanly possible. Who cares if Josie knows how eager she is? Hope is way too excited to care.

Despite Hope’s enthusiasm, once she has Josie’s face in her hands, her movements become impossibly slow and gentle. She runs her thumb over Josie’s cheekbone with a feather light touch that causes her to shiver. Her other hand comes to rest on Josie’s thigh, which feels impossibly hot against her palm. Hope leans in, pausing barely an inch away from Josie’s lips. She can feel Josie’s breath against her mouth, coming in short, hot bursts.

Hope isn’t sure why she stays there for so long. Maybe it’s because she’s scared, or, maybe she just wants this moment to last longer. Either way, within a few moments, Josie decides to close the distance herself, pressing her soft, pouty lips against Hope’s.

Hope’s mind goes blank the second their lips connect, unable to think of anything except how soft and warm Josie’s mouth is. The kiss is slow and gentle and only lasts a few moments, but to Hope it feels like a lifetime that is cut all too short by the need to breath. By the time they both pull away, they are both breathing hard and feel like the world is spinning around them.

“Wow,” Hope whispers, dazed. “I think I might pass out.”

Josie laughs sharply. “Well, we can’t have that, so we should probably go get some sleep.”

Hope hums tiredly in agreement. Josie grabs her phone and charger and then they head off to Hope’s room, their hands remaining clasped the entire time.


	6. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Extra fluff and some hurt/comfort to finish this one out.   
> Now with bonus feature: Hope in Josie's sweatshirt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, longer than expected but here is the epilogue. Like I said, it's just an idea or two I had that I didn't get to include in the main part with a whole heap of tooth-rotting fluff thrown in for flavor.  
> (yes, the idea I didn't get to include before was Hope wearing Josie's sweatshirt to stay calm)  
> Hope you guys enjoy!

“I still can’t believe that you’re dating Hope now. You’re dating a girl that bit your sister!” Lizzie says animatedly from across the breakfast table.

“Lizzie, please, can you just let it go already?” Josie says with a roll of her eyes, while MG tries not to laugh from where he is sitting next to Lizzie.

“No! She bit me! What kind of person bites someone?” Lizzie insists, gesturing dramatically.

“Wolves, and it was a nip, not a bite,” Hope says casually as she comes up from behind Josie holding a plate piled with food. She takes a seat down next to her girlfriend, wrapping an arm casually around her waist.

Lizzie snaps her head toward Hope, an incredulous expression on her face. “Are you seriously arguing this with me? What difference does it make?” Lizzie says, her voice getting louder in frustration.

“If I had bit you, you’d be dead. Plus, it’s like completely healed by now. It didn’t even scar,” Hope says, bring a forkful of food up to her mouth.

“Oh my god, that is the lowest fucking bar I’ve ever heard in my life.” Lizzie then pauses, her brow furrowing at Hope. “Wait, are you wearing one of Josie’s sweatshirts? You’ve been dating for like a week, why the fuck are you wearing one of Josie’s sweatshirts?”

Hope freezes at the question, looking instantly uncomfortable. Thankfully, Josie saves her from having to answer.

“Hope’s still recovering from the hyperarousal of her anxiety. It doesn’t just go away overnight and considering she can’t exactly be by my side all day, we figured out that wearing my sweatshirt helps her stay calm,” Josie explains, slightly exasperated.

While Lizzie thankfully hasn’t disowned Josie for dating Hope, she certainly hadn’t made things easy in the past week. Josie knows that Lizzie is really coming from a place of concern in all these petty arguments, but she has been unnecessarily antagonistic lately and it’s starting to get tiring.

“How exactly does it help?” Lizzie says, scrunching up her nose in disapproval.

“Uh, it smells like Josie, so it kind of tricks my wolf into thinking she’s nearby,” Hope says shyly, leaning a little more into Josie’s side as she does so.

“Ew,” Lizzie deadpans. “Well, you look ridiculous in it. It reaches your knees for god’s sake.”

“Yeah, it looks adorable,” Josie says sweetly, turning to kiss the blush rising on Hope’s cheeks. Lizzie makes a gagging sound in the background.

“Plus, I’m going on a mission with Dr. Saltzman tonight, and I don’t know how long we’ll be gone, so it’d probably be better if I didn’t have a panic attack in the middle of it,” Hope adds, trying not to think about how far away she will be from Josie when the time comes.

“Wait, does that mean, you’re wearing one of Josie’s _dirty_ sweatshirts?” Lizzie interjects, clearly not having actually been listening to what Hope was actually saying.

“Lizzie, please,” Josie says, instead of answering the question.

“Double ew. I think I’ve had enough of you two for this morning. I’d rather be in class,” Lizzie says, getting to her feet and dragging MG with her.

Once Lizzie is gone, Josie turns to Hope with an apologetic expression. “I’m sorry about that, she’s still not used to this yet. I think it just happened so quickly that she’s taking a while to adjust.”

Hope just smiles and leans forward to peck Josie on the lips. “It’s okay. I’ve had to deal with Lizzie for most of my life, and if I’m being honest, that was one of the more pleasant exchanges.”

Josie laughs at that, pulling Hope closer to her even though their sides are already pressed together. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay tonight? Dad wouldn’t tell me much about what the mission is, but it sounded pretty serious.”

Hope honestly has no idea how the mission will go down or how dangerous it will be, but she does know that she doesn’t like the worried look on Josie’s face and that she’ll do anything to make it go away. “I’m sure it will be fine, Jo. Dr. Saltzman called up some of his old contacts for the mission, so even if something goes wrong, we’ll have back up.”

Josie still doesn’t look convinced, so Hope kisses her again, this time slow and lingering.

“I’ll be okay,” Hope insists softly once she pulls away.

“Just, be careful,” Josie says, mirroring the words that Hope had said to her a week ago.

Hope smiles. “Of course, I’d hate to ruin this very nice sweatshirt,” She jokes.

Josie huffs in response, giving Hope a disapproving look. “Well, _I’d_ hate it if you ruined my very nice girlfriend,” Josie says, a serious look in her eyes.

Hope’s gaze flickers down to avoid the very sincere emotion in Josie’s eyes. “That too, I guess.”

“Hope,” Josie scolds, bringing her hand under Hope’s jaw to force her to look up. She doesn’t need to say anything more. Hope knows exactly what Josie is objecting to.

“I’m sorry, I will be careful, I promise,” Hope whispers like it’s a secret.

“You better,” Josie says, her expression softening before she leans in for another kiss. “Now, come on, we’ve got class in like five minutes.”

It’s fairly late in the evening when Hope leaves with Dr. Saltzman for their mission. Josie comes out to the driveway to kiss Hope goodbye. While Hope loves and appreciates the gesture, it does end up making first half hour of the drive very awkward. Hope and Dr. Saltzman haven’t exactly talked about the fact that she’s dating his daughter yet. Hope thinks that he’s still processing it as much as Lizzie is, he’s just not as annoying about it. It also doesn’t help the tension that Hope is wearing Josie’s clothes at the moment.

“So…” Dr. Saltzman says awkwardly after a few minutes of driving in complete silence. “I take it things are going well.”

Hope fidgets with her hands. “Yeah, I’m sleeping better. I’ve been in class all week and it hasn’t been too bad. It’s getting better, slowly, but better.”

“That’s good to hear,” Dr. Saltzman says, although it doesn’t sound too sincere at the moment. “And, things with Josie are…?”

“Good.” Hope answers quickly, stopping either of them from having to say it out loud. “It’s good.”

“That’s good,” Dr. Saltzman says, his voice a little strained. “I suppose I should’ve given you the classic protective dad speech, huh?”

Hope laughs lightly. “I think Lizzie’s got you covered on that one. When she found out, she locked me in the library with her and yelled at me for like an hour straight until Josie came and saved me.”

Dr. Saltzman laughs.

The conversation peters out after that, the car filling with awkward silence once more.

It takes almost ten more minutes before Dr. Saltzman speaks again.

“You know, Hope, I know it was a difficult situation for you, but I would’ve liked to have known at the time that it involved my daughter.”

Hope raises an eyebrow. “Really? That would’ve helped?” Hope asks, unconvinced. She knows that Alaric is a capable man, but when it comes to his daughters, he can get a bit irrational.

Alaric lets out a sigh and rubs a hand over his face. “No, it wouldn’t have,” Alaric admits reluctantly. “I just wish I would’ve heard it from you.”

“I just figured it should be Josie’s choice,” Hope says quietly.

Alaric sighs again. “Yeah… you know what, I don’t even know what I wanted you to do differently. I’m just having trouble wrapping my head around this.”

Hope chuckles softly. “Yeah, me, too, honestly. Plus, this is going to be one hard story to tell the family,” Hope jokes.

Alaric laughs. “Yeah, tell me about. Caroline is going to laugh her ass off.” He pauses for a moment, thinking over what Hope had said. “You planned that far ahead with her?” He asks gently.

Hope ducks her head, feeling self-conscious. “Hopefully,” She murmurs.

Alaric smiles softly at that before letting out a forceful breath. “Well, alright, I think that’s enough of that. I’m turning on the radio.”

Hope laughs and agrees, thankful to leave that tense conversation behind.

The mission does not go well. The young vampire they were looking for had already been found by a pack of werewolves, a not so friendly pack of werewolves. Hope wasn’t sure why exactly this pack wanted the vampire, but it didn’t seem like a happy reception. Either way it was a good thing they had back up.

In the end though, the werewolves got the upper hand and the vampire didn’t make it. Which meant that they had come for nothing. They retreated as quickly as possible once there was no reason for them to be there, heading home beaten, bruised, and defeated.

Hope has seen some bad things in her life. She sometimes thought she was numb to it. But the world always seemed to find new ways to surprise her. She didn’t know what it was about that night that made their failure hit differently, maybe it’s because she thought she could’ve done something, or because she was already tired and anxious before the mission even started, or maybe it was because the mission took them all night to the point in which when her and Alaric get back to the school it is already 1pm the next day.

They arrive back at the school in silence, neither of them wanting to talk about anything that happened. It’s the next day and they both have things to do, no time to grieve. As soon as the car is stopped, Alaric grabs his stuff and heads for his office without a word. It takes Hope a few more seconds to move from her seat, struggling to convince her tired body to do so.

Hope knows she’s not going to class today. She only has two classes left and, after being awake for over 36 hours, she’d probably fall asleep during them anyways. There is only one thing that Hope wants; it’s the only thing she can think about. She wants Josie. She needs to be near her right now, to feel safe right now. Josie’s sweatshirt around her isn’t enough anymore, only smelling like smoke and her own sweat.

Hope wants to go and crawl into her girlfriend’s lap and stay there forever, and she almost does, before she remembers that Josie is in class. Hope hates herself a little for not even really caring that Josie needs to be in class. But Hope’s not going to drag Josie out of her class just because she can’t take care of herself. She just needs some sleep.

Josie comes out of her last class anxious and restless. She had expected Hope and her dad to be back by at least lunch time, but when she checked they were still gone. Her classes were hardly enough to distract her mind from trying to think of every possible thing that could’ve gone wrong during the mission.

Josie find her sister quickly after the last bell rings.

“Lizzie,” Josie calls, running up to her sister. “Do you know if Dad and Hope are back yet?”

Lizzie, despite her qualms with her sister’s relationship, is sympathetic to her sister’s worries. “I haven’t seen them. Check with Dorian, he’d know.”

Josie practically runs to find Dorian, locating him in the library like usual.

“Josie, is everything okay?” Dorian asks as Josie comes up to him.

“Hey, is Dad back yet?”

“Uh, yeah, he got back an hour or two ago. Why? Do you need something?”

Josie immediately feels the vice on her chest loosen at the information. She’s so distracted by knowing that they are okay, that she almost misses Dorian’s question. “Oh, no, I was just worried about them,” She says quickly. “Thanks, Dorian!”

And with that Josie is out the door, heading toward Hope’s dorm. When she gets to Hope’s door, she finds it locked. Josie furrows her brow. Hope doesn’t usually lock the door when she’s in her room, but maybe she didn’t want to be bothered. Josie hesitates, her anxiety about Hope’s safety and her anxiety about not crossing Hope’s boundaries having a war in her head. Eventually, she decides to leave Hope for the moment, given that she was probably exhausted when she got back, and Josie wouldn’t want to wake her for no reason.

Feeling deflated and still anxious, Josie heads back to her room. When she gets there, she finds the door ajar and unspelled, which is a little weird since Lizzie doesn’t usually come back to their room after classes are over, but maybe she forgot a book or something and then forgot to close it back up. Josie doesn’t pay it nearly as much attention as she did with Hope’s door, only nudging the door open and walking inside.

Josie goes immediately to her desk to put her school stuff down and pull out her homework. She’s grabbing her history notes when a soft noise behind her makes her freeze. Slowly, she turns around to see Hope curled up in a tight ball on her bed, not even under the blankets and still wearing her sweatshirt.

The sight not only dispels what’s left of her anxiety but leaves her feeling warm all over. She has to stop herself from audibly cooing over her girlfriend as she moves toward the bed. Despite, Josie’s earlier decision to not wake Hope up, she can’t help herself. To be fair, if Hope had come to her room and removed the spell on their door just to curl up on her bed, she probably wouldn’t mind knowing that Josie is actually in the room with her. Or at least that’s the rationalization that Josie comes up with.

Josie sits down gingerly on the edge of her bed. Hope snuffles softly and shifts a little closer to her, as if knowing that Josie is there. Josie can’t help the smile on her face. She leans down and kisses Hope softly on the forehead. With all of the self-control that Josie has left, she starts to move back toward her homework. She is almost immediately stopped by Hope stirring and her eyes opening sleepily.

“Josie?” Hope murmurs, her voice rough from sleep and the long night.

“Hey, stranger,” Josie says with a soft laugh.

Hope mutters something incoherent under her breath as she unfolds herself and stretches, before turning back to Josie. Hope means to apologize for coming into Josie’s room uninvited. She means to tell Josie that everything went fine, and that she shouldn’t worry. But she doesn’t actually manage to say anything at all.

Instead, Hope buries herself into the crook of Josie’s neck, her arms coming around to Josie’s waist, pulling the girl as close as she can.

Josie makes a slightly surprised noise before bringing her arms up around Hope’s shoulders, holding her tightly. After a long, long moment, Josie realizes that it doesn’t seem like Hope is going to let go anytime soon, which is both the most adorable thing in the world and a bit of a problem. The position they are in is not that comfortable and the sweatshirt Hope is wearing so very dirty.

“Are you okay?” Josie asks softly, speaking close to Hope ear.

Hope wants to say yes. Hope wants to tell Josie that everything is fine, that she doesn’t have to worry about her. She doesn’t.

Hope shakes her head without moving a fraction of a centimeter away from the position she is in.

“That’s okay,” Josie reassures Hope. “Why don’t I get you a clean sweatshirt and then I’ll come lay with you so you can get some sleep,” Josie explains softly.

It takes a long moment, but eventually Hope nods. Although, it still lands on Josie to actually start untangling them.

Once Josie has reluctantly escaped Hope’s embrace, she reassures her that she’s coming back and heads to her closet to pick out a new sweatshirt. It only takes a second of her looking before she feels Hope’s arms come around her waist again. Josie sighs fondly as Hope lays her head against her back, a familiar motion that Josie has come to realize is Hope listening to her heartbeat. Eventually, Josie pulls out one of her favorite sweatshirts, one that’s extremely soft on the inside and is a little big on her. Yeah, Hope will probably drown in the sweatshirt, but Josie can’t exactly see the problem there.

“Hope?” Josie says softly once she has the sweatshirt off the hanger.

Hope only murmurs incoherently into her back.

“Hope, you have to let go to put the sweatshirt on.”

Josie can practically feel Hope’s frown. It takes a long moment and a few more prompts from Josie before Hope actually lets go. It surprises Josie when Hope then utilizes her super speed to take off her dirty sweatshirt and put on the new one. For a girl who didn’t seem to want to move an inch since she woke up, she can sure move fast. It does make sense though, as Hope immediately reattaches herself to Josie.

Josie chuckles and leads Hope over to the bed. She pulls back the covers and prompts Hope to climb in, which she does with only a little whine of protest. Josie doesn’t waste anytime following Hope into her bed.

Once they are both under the covers, Hope turns to face Josie, perfectly slotting herself into Josie like she always does, her head resting in the crook of Josie’s neck, right under Josie’s chin, one arm thrown around her waist and her other hand, covered from the overly long sweatshirt sleeve, is balled up in Josie’s shirt.

Josie lets out a content sigh as she wraps her arms around Hope. Thinking back on it as she starts to drift off to sleep, Josie isn’t sure when things went from Hope being protective over Josie to Josie being protective over Hope. Josie wouldn’t have guessed in a million years that Hope would ever trust her so much, but it’s one of the best feelings she’s ever felt. There’s something special about being able to protect the protector.


	7. Holy shit, I'm big dumb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Um, just sort of a notice about something changing in the fic if you've already read it.

Author's note: Holy shit I fucked up guys. Um, I was reading this the other night (idk why), and I realized that when I originally posted chapter 5, I missed an entire section at the beginning. I'm so embarrassed, especially because it's like my favorite part of the chapter. I'm a dumbass. I just added into the chapter, it's at the beginning so if you want to go read it, it won't be hard to find. I'm honestly super surprised the fic made sense without that section, but I guess it did because it took me fucking months to notice. Well, I'm just going to go melt into a puddle then. Bye.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think! I crave validation. 
> 
> Feel free to say hi to me on Tumblr: @Werederg
> 
> And If you want to see me fuck around and play video games. I also have a [twitch](https://www.twitch.tv/werederg)


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